Category: Percy Jackson & the Olympians

Rating: T

Couples: hints of Official Couples, sort of Athena/Apollo

Warnings: AU,

Chapter: 10

Copyright: Characters & places © By Rick Riordan, Plot & OC´s © by me

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"What does it mean?" Katie asked.

"I do not know." Nico admitted, turning to the Hellhound. "How much further?"

The massive Canine lifted her head, sniffing the air. "A few hours walk."

"Too long." The Prince of the Underworld stated. "Would you carry one of us in Shadowtravel?"

She snarled. "I am not a beast of burden, Half-blood."

"I'm not saying that. It would be a one-time thing." Nico answered. "Please?"

"I can wait here." Katie tried to compromise. "You follow her through the Shadows and I'll wait here for your return."

"That would not be smart." The female canine said. "We are not the only monsters here, others followed our scent. Climb on. I will carry you this one time."

She lowered herself a bit, allowing Demeter's daughter to climb on her back. "Follow me, Prince."

She bounded at the shadow of a thick tree, her pup on her heels and Nico on her side. Katie held onto her fur, shielding her face against the low-hanging branches.

The journey through the shadows was brief, but she still decided it was nothing for her. She could do without the feeling of losing her skin on the way.

They appeared deeper in the mountains, big rocks littering the grounds from when massive glaciers covered the land in the Ice Age. Katie climbed down from the black back, looking around.

"Where to now?" Nico asked the Hellhound, watching as she shook herself. She was panting, her powerful legs shaking from the exhaustion of carrying a Half-blood through the shadows.

"This way." She turned, leading them to even higher ground. They had to pause several times, the massive dog needing to take several deep breaths to keep herself from collapsing. The short journey that would have taken maybe a quarter of an hour, now took almost a full hour.

They reached a rock wall around midday. Several Hellhounds looked up as they approached. Soft yips greeted the returning matriarch as several more pups climbed down to greet her. She nuzzled them, pushing them to the pup at her side.

"Follow me." She told the humans, slowly climbing up to where the main part of her pack rested in the sun. She barked sharply at them, causing several to disappear in the surrounding woods.

Nico and Katie followed her into the cave-opening behind the remnants of the pack. It was dark inside, much of the light of the sun not reaching further than the first few feet.

Katie pulled a flashlight from her backpack, illuminating the jagged rock.

The Hellhound-matriarch led them further inside, to a small alcove in the wall. Several Hellhounds were curled together in a mound of black fur.

Another short bark and those too rose and left them, leaving only another massive canine and several forms resting against his flanks.

"The gods that helped us." The Matriarch said, gesturing with her head.

Nico carefully approached, watching the reaction of the hound that was playing couch to the two bodies. But his attention was diverted when one of the bodies moved. The male looked up, long golden hair hanging matted around his face. Perfect blue eyes met those of Nico and with a shock, they recognized one another.

"Apollo?" Nico breathed.

"Nico. They managed to find you." The god pushed himself up from the Hellhound. "Good."

"You… what?" Katie helped him up. "You… you escaped Tartarus…"

"Sure did." He shook his head to clear it. "I tell you, it wasn't easy. We are exhausted." He held himself up at Katie's shoulder with one hand and gestured with the other to the body next to him.

Nico carefully reached out, turning the body at the shoulder. The woman was either asleep or unconscious, holding a bundle in her arms. Athena's breath was slow and deep, the baby in her arms only fussing slightly.

"We escaped, but it cost us nearly all power we had. And we cannot draw energy from our domains." Apollo softly said. "We need help."

"What can we do?" Katie asked.

"Help us get to Olympus." Apollo told them. "Or Camp, if necessary. Since someone is now holding our domains instead of us, we have no way to quickly restore our strength without huge amounts of Ambrosia or Nectar."

"We have some." Nico opened his backpack, handing the god a flask. "How do we get you there?"

"Mortal travel." Apollo gratefully accepted the flask. "But Athena is in an even worse state than I am. I hope I can manipulate the Mist enough to cover that up."

"We'll find a way." Nico stated. "Is there a waterfall or something nearby?"

"Not that we found one." The Hellhound answered. "Why?"

"We should Iris-message the other gods." Nico said. "They need to know Apollo and Athena left Tartarus."

"I'll send some members out to search." She left the cave again. A series of barks echoed back to them.